Non-Stretch Garment Having Knit Stretch Panels

ABSTRACT

A garment formed of a woven limited-stretch fabric includes knit stretch panels to provide stretch in key areas of the garment.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to the field of garment manufacture,and more specifically, to knitted panels incorporated into a non-stretchgarment.

BACKGROUND

In the world of fashion merchandise, it is desirable to offer clothingthat, in addition to being aesthetically pleasing, is both close fittingand comfortable. However, given the wide variety of body types and sizesof the customer base, this can be difficult to accomplish for manydifferent types and styles of clothing. Thus, clothing designers andmanufacturers continue to look for new ways to achieve these objectives.

Fitted garments, that is, clothing that is generally form-fitting to theindividual and not too large or too small, are very popular. Further, itis often desirable that such clothing not require closures, such aszippers, buttons, or snaps, because these features can be inconvenient,uncomfortable and/or unseemly on an otherwise streamlined design.

One option is to make the garment entirely out of material thatstretches, such as synthetic lycra or a blend of lycra and cotton;however, such garments are generally more suited to active or athleticpursuits. Another option is knits which derive their stretchcharacteristics from the structure of the stitches.

For other types of clothing needs, garments are often made of fabricsthat are woven from materials that do not stretch or have a limitedability to stretch. In particular, woven fabrics made from naturalfibers, such as cotton, wool, linen, silk, etc., generally exhibitdurable wear characteristics but have little or no stretchcharacteristic.

In many cases, however, particularly for a form fitting or close fittinggarment, a garment made from a woven fabric would be difficult to easilydon unless the garment is oversized or if it featured closures, such aszippers, buttons, or snaps.

Therefore it would be desirable to provide a garment, a significantproportion of which comprises woven fabrics made from predominantlynatural fibers, or from synthetic fibers or synthetic blends withlimited stretch characteristics, but which garment nevertheless isconstructed in such a manner that it has the capacity to stretch incrucial locations so that it can easily be donned by the wearer withoutbeing oversized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a T-shirt having knit stretch panels.

FIG. 2 is a left side plan view of the T-shirt of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear plan view of the T-shirt of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a front plan view of knit panels made for the side seams ofthe T-shirt of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a front plan view of knit panels made for the shoulder seamsof the T-shirt of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6A is a front plan view of knit panels made for the underarm seamsof the short sleeve T-shirt of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6B is a front plan view of knit panels made for the underarm seamsof a long sleeve T-shirt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate the front, left side and rear views, respectively,of a basic garment 100, namely a short sleeve T-shirt having acorresponding front panel 110 and back panel 120 each made from alimited-stretch fabric. For example, a woven fabric, such as such ascotton, wool, silk, cashmere, linen, mohair; a woven synthetic materialsuch as acrylic, nylon, polyester, rayon; or any woven mixed compositionmaterial, such as rayon/cotton, polyester/cotton, polyester/wool, orwool/acrylic; typically provides little or no stretch and/or recoveryfrom stretch, and may often be used in form-fitting and/orcustom-tailored clothing. Thus, in general, most woven fabrics have arelatively small stretch percentage.

The stretch of a fabric is usually measured across the grainhorizontally, from selvedge to selvedge, and is termed two-way stretch.The percentage of stretch in a fabric may be estimated by laying thefabric at ease against a ruler or ruler grid, marking an edge point, andthen stretching the fabric to a comfortable extension point and readingthe new measurement of the edge point. For example, if the fabric laysout at 4 inches at ease, and the fabric stretches comfortably to the 6inch measure, then the 2 inch stretch of the 4 inch fabric sampleamounts to a 50% stretch percentage. Four-way stretch refers to when thefabric can stretch in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

In general, woven fabrics are characterized by a relatively low stretchpercentage, for example, in the range of 1-15%, depending on the fabrictype and weave. A typical 100% wool suit has a stretch percentage ofabout 4% while a 100% wool that is woven especially to provide somelimited degree of stretch has a stretch percentage of only about 12%.

In contrast, all knit fabrics stretch to some degree, and this inherent“give” in the knit fabric tends to make a garment more comfortable andeasier to fit. For example, warp knits will generally provide a flat,smooth surface and have little or no vertical stretch and varyingdegrees of crosswise stretch. Weft knits tend to have moderate to largeamounts of stretch in the crosswise direction and some lengthwisestretch.

Thus, in order to provide greater comfort to a garment made primarilyfrom a woven fabric, the front and back panels 110, 120 are attachedtogether using a pair of side panels 130 and a pair of shoulder panels140 each made from a fabric that stretches, such as a knit fabric. Thereare several types of knit fabrics, varying from lightweight to mediumweight, and all provide a significant amount of stretch, i.e., typicallyin the range of 50-100% but in general greater than the chosen wovenfabric. For the purposes described herein, it is desirable to provide astretch panel made with a fabric having at least twice the stretchpercentage of the corresponding limited-stretch fabric used to make toprimary portions of the garment. Fabric patterns are typically designedfor either woven fabric or knit fabric, but the patterns sized for knitfabric specify the amount of stretch required in the fabric to make thepattern.

A pair of sleeves 150, also made from a limited-stretch woven fabric,are attached to respective arm openings defined by the front, rear, sideand shoulder panels. Although short sleeves are shown, the sleeves 150could be any length or omitted altogether. Each of the sleeves 150 is agenerally circular or cylindrical fabric panel coupled to itself atseams 151 on the bottom side of its respective arm opening 101 by anunderarm knit stretch panel 160. In an alternative embodiment, thesleeves may instead be made of knit fabric such that the knit stretchpanel is not required.

The pattern for cutting the front panel 110 defines side edges 111 orseams running from the bottom of the panel (bottom hem of shirt) to theseam 112 at arm openings 101 on each side; arm edges 112 or seams thatdefine arm openings 101 in a generally half-circular pattern connectingthe side edges to respective shoulder edges 113 or seams, the shoulderedges running horizontally generally along the shoulder line; and ascoop neck edge 114 or seam connecting each of the shoulder edges anddefining the front of the neck opening 102.

The pattern for cutting the back panel 120 is similar to the front sidepattern, defining side edges/seams 121 corresponding with the side edges111 on front side 110; arm edges/seams 122 corresponding with the frontside arm edges 112 that define the arm openings 101; shoulderedges/seams 123 running horizontally generally along the shoulder linein correspondence with front side edges 113; and a rear neck edge/seam124 connecting each of the shoulder edges and defining the back of theneck opening 102. In this example, the back panel includes a pleat downthe center to provide additional comfort, although this element is notessential to the garment. In an alternative embodiment, the back panelmay instead be made entirely of knit fabric, i.e., the entire back panelis a stretch panel. In the alternative embodiment, the side panels mayor may not be included.

Referring to FIG. 4, a pair of the knit side panels 130 or ribbing,prior to incorporation into garment 100, is illustrated. The knit sideribbing 130 can be formed in pairs as shown, then separated and sewn inplace at the side seams of garment 100 as described above. A finishededge feature 131 can be provided at the bottom of the ribbing.

Similarly, in FIG. 5, the shoulder panels 140 are illustrated as onecomplete knitted piece including a finished edge 141 on one sidethereof. The piece is then divided into six individual shoulder panelsto service up to three different sets of shoulders on garments.Likewise, FIG. 6A illustrates a pair of the underarm panels 160 for ashort sleeve shirt, each panel having a finished edge 161. FIG. 6Billustrates a pair of the underarm panels 170 for a long sleeve shirt,each panel having a finished edge 171.

In one embodiment, for a medium size shirt, the side panels 130 could beapproximately 19 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide; the shoulder panels140 could be approximately 6 inches tall and 3 inches wide; the underarmpanels 160 could be approximately 4 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide fora short sleeve shirt, and approximately 18 inches taller for a longsleeve shirt. Proportional measurements can be determined for othersizing options. Although the illustrated embodiment shows the sidestretch panels, shoulder stretch panels, and underarm stretch panels asextending along the full length in their respective garmentpositionings, this feature is intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. Shorter stretch panels could be employed at critical places ina particular garment. For example, the side stretch panels may run fromthe underarm position to just under the rib cage rather than all the wayto the bottom hem to provide a better fit for a person with a largerupper body.

Note that garment 100 does not have or need any closure mechanisms, suchas buttons, zipper, etc., although such features could still be presentfor aesthetic purposes. The knit panels are attached, e.g., cut andsewn, to the edges/seams of the woven garment panels to create anadditional garment piece that allows for stretch in certain areas of thegarment, for example, in the side, shoulder and underarm areas ofexemplary garment 100. Thus, each of the knit side panels 130 isattached to respective side seams 111, 121 and to an underarm portion ofrespective arm seams 112. Each of the knit shoulder panels 140 isattached to respective shoulder seams 113, 123 and to a top portion ofrespective arm seams 112. The shoulder panels 140 allow for flexibilityin upper body movement and allow for enough stretch to allow a person'shead and neck through the neckline 102 of the garment. Each of the knitunderarm panels 160 is attached to respective sleeve seams 151 and tothe underarm portion of respective arm seams 112 together with the sideseams 111, 121. The underarm panels in FIG. 5 are sewn underneath thesleeve of the garment to allow the room for a variety of bicep and armsizes and for enhanced movability through in the arm area. All the seamscan be flat felled, French, overlock, or any other style or kind of sewnattachment.

It should be clear that incorporating ribbing pieces that stretch allowsfor both movement and fit. If the stretch panels were not present, thewoven garment would not be able to be placed on the body unless thegarment was severely oversized. The number and placement of the knitstretch panels can therefore vary depending on the style of the garment.For example, on a long sleeve shirt, the knit panels may extend alongthe arm to the cuff in order to give stretch to the entire sleeve of thegarment.

The custom knit panels may require finished edges, for example, wherethe knit panel will not be sewn into a seam which can be made by fullMilano stitches, links-links stitches, jersey tubular stitches, or anyother knit stitch that provides a clean edge that will not deteriorateover time. These finished edges allow for a clean, unsewn edge dependingon the placement of the knit panel. These type of knit finishes can varydepending on the placement and desired texture of the knit and are notlimited to those described above. The only requirement of the finishededges is that they not fray or otherwise be destructive to the garmentas it is worn repeatedly.

Any fabric with a high degree of stretch that would provide the sameutility described herein can also be used in the placement of the customknit panels. These could include but are not limited to woven jerseyfabrics, synthetic stretch fabrics, or any mixed composition fabric witha high degree of stretch. The requirements for using these fabrics wouldbe the same as for the custom knit panels, in that the stretch panelswould allow for a non-stretch or limited stretch fabric to be made intoa garment that could be fitted to the body without any closures.

While specific embodiments have been described by way of example, itshould be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments. To the contrary, this disclosure is intended to covervarious modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claimsshould be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass allsuch modifications and similar arrangements.

I claim:
 1. A garment, comprising: a plurality of limited-stretchgarment panels each forming one of a plurality of major portions of thegarment, each limited-stretch garment panel having a pattern definedwith a plurality of seam edges; and a plurality of stretch panels,wherein the garment panels are sewn together to include the stretchpanels at preselected portions of preselected seam edges.
 2. The garmentof claim 1, wherein each of the stretch panels has a second stretchpercentage that is at least double a first stretch percentage of each ofthe limited-stretch garment panels.
 3. A garment, comprising: aplurality of garment panels each made using a first fabric, the firstfabric having a limited stretch characteristic, each garment panelforming one of a plurality of major portions of the garment, eachgarment panel having a plurality of seam edges; and a plurality ofstretch panels each made using a second fabric, the second fabric nothaving a limited stretch characteristic, each stretch panel affixedbetween the seam edges of one or more of the plurality of garmentpanels.
 4. The garment of claim 2, wherein first fabric is a wovenfabric and the second fabric is a knit fabric.
 5. The garment of claim3, the garment panels comprising at least a first pair of correspondingmajor portions, each of the first pair of corresponding major portionshaving a pair of side seams, each side seam disposed on an opposite edgeof the major portion, wherein each one of a first pair of the pluralityof the stretch panels is affixed between the side seams of correspondingmajor portions.
 6. The garment of claim 5, each of the first pair ofcorresponding major portions further including at least a first pair ofshoulder seams, each shoulder seam disposed on a top edge of the majorportion and separated by a neckline portion, wherein each one of asecond pair of the plurality of the stretch panels is affixed betweenthe shoulder seams of corresponding first pair of major portions.
 7. Thegarment of claim 6, each of the first pair of corresponding majorportions further including a pair of arm openings disposed on oppositeedges of the major portions between the respective side seam andshoulder seam, the garment panels further comprising a second pair ofmajor portions, each of the second pair of corresponding major portionsis formed as a sleeve and affixed to respective arm openings, each ofthe second pair of corresponding major portions having a pair ofunderarm seams, wherein each one of a third pair of the plurality of thestretch panels is affixed between the underarm seams of respective onesof the second pair of major portions.
 8. The garment of claim 4, whereinthe woven fabric comprises a natural fiber, a synthetic fiber, or ablend of natural and synthetic fibers.
 9. The garment of claim 8,wherein the natural fiber comprises wool, silk, cashmere, cotton, linen,or mohair.
 10. The garment of claim 3, wherein the first fabric has afabric stretch percentage that does not exceed 15 percent.
 11. Thegarment of claim 10, wherein the second fabric has a fabric stretchpercentage that exceeds 15 percent.
 12. The garment of claim 3, whereinthe second fabric has a second stretch percentage that is double a firststretch percentage of the first fabric.
 13. The garment of claim 3,further comprising: one of the plurality of garment panels is a frontpanel; and one of the plurality of stretch panels is a rear panel. 14.The garment of claim 13, further comprising: at least one pair ofadditional stretch panels affixed between the front panel and the rearpanel.
 15. A garment, comprising: a plurality of garment panels eachmade using a first fabric, the first fabric having a limited stretchcharacteristic, including: a front panel having a neckline seam edge anda pair of shoulder seam edges on opposite sides of the neckline seamedge along a top edge of the front panel, a pair of side seam edges oncorresponding side edges of the front panel, and a pair of arm seamedges connecting respective side seam edges to respective shoulder seamedges, formed across opposite top corner portions of the front panel; arear panel having a neckline seam edge, a pair of shoulder seam edgescorresponding to the shoulder seam edges on the front panel along a topedge of the rear panel, a pair of side seam edges corresponding to theside seam edges on the front panel, and a pair of arm seam edgescorresponding to the shoulder seam edges on the front panel; and aplurality of stretch panels each made using a second fabric, the secondfabric not having a limited stretch characteristic, including: each oneof a first pair of the stretch panels is affixed between thecorresponding side seams of the front and rear panels; and each one of asecond pair of the stretch panels is affixed between the correspondingshoulder seams of the front and rear panels.
 16. The garment of claim15, wherein first fabric is a woven fabric and the second fabric is aknit fabric.
 17. The garment of claim 15, further comprising: thegarment panels include a pair of sleeve panels each having a generallycylindrical shape and each having a pair of underarm seam edges, each ofthe sleeve panels affixed to respective arm seam edges of the front andrear panels; and the stretch panels include a third pair of the stretchpanels affixed between the underarm seams of the respective sleevepanels.
 18. The garment of claim 15, wherein the second fabric has asecond stretch percentage that is double a first stretch percentage ofthe first fabric.
 19. The garment of claim 15, further comprising: thestretch panels include a pair of sleeves each having a generallycylindrical shape and each having a pair of underarm seam edges, each ofthe sleeves affixed to respective arm seam edges of the front and rearpanels.
 20. The garment of claim 15, wherein the second fabric has asecond stretch percentage that is double a first stretch percentage ofthe first fabric.